Which Duquesne Light account does your hotel actually have?
A hotel energy review starts with the legal delivery utility, service address, and rate schedule printed on the bill. Duquesne Light Company delivers electricity in portions of Allegheny and Beaver counties. Its service territory report supports coverage of the Pittsburgh region; it does not establish that every nearby property uses DLC. An airport-area mailing address, franchise name, or management-company headquarters cannot settle an individual meter’s territory.
This is an editorial coverage candidate for hotels with DLC accounts, rather than a hotel-room ranking. Verify the property’s bill before requesting an offer. A Pittsburgh hotel may have separate accounts for its building, garage, exterior lighting, or charging equipment. Record each account’s supplier, meter, and service classification. Keeping those identities separate prevents the building’s supply agreement from accidentally omitting an ancillary meter.
Use the hotel energy markets hub to organize territory questions. The Met-Ed hotel utility guide illustrates why a nearby Pennsylvania account can have different tariff and enrollment mechanics.
How do distribution classes differ from default supply categories?
A distribution rate schedule determines the utility’s delivery billing rules. A default supply category determines how the utility purchases and prices generation when the customer has not selected a competitive supplier. They are connected, but the labels are not interchangeable.
The business rates page identifies GS as small general service without a demand meter and GM as demand-metered general service. It also describes GL availability where demand is at least 300 kW. Heating variants have additional conditions concerning the source and share of space heating. Installing one heat pump does not establish qualification for a heating schedule.
DLC separately describes Rider 8 default supply for smaller accounts and Rider 9 day-ahead hourly supply for medium accounts at or above the relevant 200 kW boundary and larger accounts. The page uses an average demand over a twelve-month period for the smaller default categories. Have DLC confirm the classification when history straddles a boundary. Do not equate guest-room count with either a distribution schedule or default supply assignment.
Which parts of the bill can a supply offer replace?
All business customers remain responsible for DLC distribution charges, whether generation comes from DLC or an electric generation supplier. Depending on the schedule, delivery includes customer, energy, and demand charges. The business rates explanation states that a customer choosing an EGS must purchase both supply and transmission from that EGS. This matters when comparing an offer labeled “energy only.”
| Bill component | Evidence to obtain | Comparison treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Distribution customer and demand charges | Current schedule and bill | Keep in the delivery forecast |
| Default generation | Rider and dated supply category | Replace only during the actual supplier term |
| Transmission | Appendix A or supplier inclusion schedule | Count once and identify the responsible biller |
| Taxes and other adjustments | Applicable tariff leaves | Apply to the correct taxable components |
| Separate lighting or garage account | Its own account record | Include only if the contract lists it |
The current tariff resources page lists Supplement 110 effective October 1, 2026 and separately identifies a pending December 2026 default supply supplement. That separation is useful: a pending filing is not the current billed price. Retain the approved leaf dates used in your comparison.
What does the price to compare tell a hotel manager?
On review in October 2026, the live business page distinguishes actual September 1, 2026 prices from estimated December 1, 2026 prices. It also marks the larger hourly categories differently from accounts with a published class-average PTC. A class-average cents-per-kWh figure is a comparison reference, not a complete hotel budget and not an individualized offer.
For a smaller default-supply account, match the applicable actual period to the hotel’s billing dates and consumption. For hourly supply, request the hourly consumption and billing calculation. An arithmetic average of daily market prices does not reproduce an hourly load-weighted bill. A hotel’s occupied rooms, morning laundry, and late-afternoon cooling can produce different weighting from a generic market average.
Keep an assumption column for future months whose default prices have not been finalized. Review one forecast using those assumptions and a second forecast with higher supply costs. Avoid presenting either forecast as DLC’s announced future rate. A supplier offer should identify its own valid-through time, start condition, volume treatment, and included cost components.
Which peaks influence a DLC supply contract?
A delivery demand charge and a supplier’s capacity obligation can respond to different measurements. The first comes from the hotel’s applicable delivery schedule. The second depends on the account’s contribution and assigned tags under utility and PJM methods. PJM’s PLC and NSPL methodology inventory lists utility-specific methods, including DLC, rather than one universal formula for every Pennsylvania hotel.
Ask for the current capacity and transmission tags, their units, effective periods, and the underlying interval data. Then ask each supplier whether it holds those costs within a fixed price or bills them separately. A lower measured building peak does not automatically revise the current capacity tag or reduce every charge immediately.
For an operations review, overlay banquet setup, laundry starts, kitchen service, and cooling recovery on the demand intervals. Investigate whether equipment starts can be staggered while meeting hot-water, ventilation, and guest-comfort requirements. Keep that investigation distinct from a claim that a particular system peak will occur at a known future time.
When can a hotel change suppliers?
The customer choice FAQs describes supplier switching on a three-business-day basis. Treat that as a utility process, not a promise that signing a hotel contract starts service three days later. An enrollment needs a valid account, authorized selection, and successful supplier submission. Rejected account information or an existing contract termination date can change the practical schedule.
- Confirm the exact legal customer and all covered account numbers.
- Obtain the existing contract’s expiration, notice requirements, and termination calculation.
- Ask the incoming supplier for its proposed utility enrollment date and start-date condition.
- Retain the utility’s accepted enrollment confirmation and effective date.
- Reconcile the first supplier bill to the final default or outgoing supplier bill.
For an ownership transfer, distinguish starting delivery service in a new entity’s name from selecting an EGS. A service-start request has its own utility requirements. The supply agreement should state whether it can move to the buyer, requires consent, or must be replaced. Ask for that answer before scheduling a closing-related switch.
How should a hotel screen efficiency incentives?
The current utility-linked business program finder separates large commercial facilities at 300 kW or more of billing demand from smaller business pathways. It lists hospitality among relevant commercial uses. The small business direct-install path has its own lower demand condition; do not substitute the broader small-business category’s boundary for that program’s test.
An equipment proposal should identify the qualifying account, demand history, proposed measure, baseline equipment, and required approval. Confirm the current installation and application period with the administrator before placing an order. Older Watt Choices applications with an expired promotion period cannot establish eligibility for a new project.
For guest-room controls, ask how the program verifies savings and how the proposed sequence handles occupied rooms. For central plant improvements, preserve trend data before commissioning. If an incentive agreement assigns capacity rights, review how that interacts with demand-response participation. A supplier’s energy quote and an efficiency rebate address separate transactions and should have separate approvals.
What should the final hotel decision record contain?
Produce a short decision file containing the bill reconciliation, tariff assignment, current default category, accepted supplier scope, enrollment plan, and equipment assumptions. Explain why the selected contract fits the hotel’s tolerance for hourly exposure, planned renovation, and possible sale. Room-night forecasts can help explain volume changes, but utility energy and demand remain the quantities used to reproduce charges.
For a regional portfolio, compare the PSE&G hotel account guide and Delmarva Power hotel guide before adopting one common start-date rule. Their different jurisdictions illustrate why a portfolio procurement needs an account-specific schedule.
Broker compensation: Before accepting a supply recommendation, ask whether compensation is a supplier-paid adder, a direct fee, or another disclosed arrangement. Request its units, calculation basis, and treatment on cancellation or renewal. Include it consistently in the evaluated supply cost, and retain the written disclosure with the decision file.